Shanghai to start opening power market in line with China reforms

BEIJING: Shanghai plans to set up around 10 percent of its power market for open trade this year and 30 percent by the end of 2019 to push forward reform of its power system, the city government said in a statement on Friday.

The initiative is in line with China's long-planned reforms to liberalize the nation's power markets.

The power trades will be carried out over a local platform, according to the statement, with long-term power supply contracts on offer and initially open for unilateral trade only among power generators. Power consumers will be able to buy and sell power over the platform in a second stage.

The scheme also encourages power companies to trade directly with residential and commercial consumers. Shanghai aims to fully open power trading to the market after 2020.

Some 13 provinces in China have instituted power market reforms since 2016. Last week, the country's state planner launched pilot schemes to allow spot trading of electricity in eight provinces and regions.